Eleazar Wheelock, letter, to Samson Occom, 1771 January 22

Author Wheelock, Eleazar[pers0036.ocp]

22 January 1771[1771-01-22]

Call Number771122

[note (type: abstract): Wheelock expresses sorrow at Occom’s repeated and aggravated falls from virtue. He writes that if Occom and his brother-in-law David will go on a mission, Wheelock will give David as much as any schoolmaster sent by the Boston Commissioners.][note (type: handwriting): Writing is small, even and uniform, though letter case is frequently difficult to decipher.][note (type: paper): Small page is in fair-to-poor condition, with moderate-to-heavy creasing, staining and wear, which results in some loss of text.][note (type: ink): Black-brown.][note (type: noteworthy): Contents are identical to those of 771122.1, which is a copy of this document.]
Persistent Identifier
[Opener]
My dear [M.r | Mr.]M.rMr. Occom[pers0030.ocp].
Perhaps you little think what pain [& | and]&and Sorrow of
Heart I have had on hearing of your repeated [& | and]&and aggravated
fall, but I am comforted a little with the Hope that God has
given You Repentance, but I conclude, [unleſs | unless]unleſsunless the [manifeſtation | manifestation]manifeſtationmanifestation
of your Repentance has been very public, clear, Strong [& | and]&and evident
to [every body | everybody]every bodyeverybody, your [usefulneſs | usefulness]usefulneſsusefulness is near at an End where you are.
and it may be one [deſign | design]deſigndesign of God in leaving you thus to fall has
been to reprove your Staying at home, and in a Sort [compell | compel]compellcompel
you to go abroad among remote Tribes, or else quit your
[Miniſtry | ministry]Miniſtryministry, which I conclude you will never be [eaſie | easy]eaſieeasy in doing
while the Nations are lying in [wickedneſs | wickedness]wickedneſswickedness and [periſhing | perishing]periſhingperishing for
lack of [viſion | vision]viſionvision. You may remember I early [mentiond | mentioned]mentiondmentioned to
you, your going among the Onondagas[org0078.ocp], or some other Nation
there in that quarter, and Said Something about your taking
your Brother David[pers0155.ocp] [& | and]&and Settling your Families in that Country,
and I felt Some concern that you [declind | declined]declinddeclined it as I thought
and have always [feard | feared]feardfeared [yt | that]ytthat you was not [ſo | so]ſoso usefully [imployed | employed]imployedemployed
as you might be among remote tribes. [M.r | Mr.]M.rMr. Woodward[pers0610.ocp] informs
me of your having [underſtood | understood]underſtoodunderstood me [otherwiſe | otherwise]otherwiſeotherwise, which [muſt | must]muſtmust certain
-ly have been through Some [miſtake | mistake]miſtakemistake. — I also always [beleived | believed]beleivedbelieved
your Brother David[pers0155.ocp] did wrong in leaving that [Cauſe | cause]Cauſecause in the
[wilderneſs | wilderness]wilderneſswilderness where he was So acceptable, [& | and]&and had So wide a Door
opened to him for [usefulneſs | usefulness]usefulneſsusefulness.
 I now propose to You [& | and]&and him that if you will remove and
Settle in any of the Tribes where you may find the [beſt | best]beſtbest
[Proſpect | prospect]Proſpectprospect of [usefulneſs | usefulness]usefulneſsusefulness, I will allow him as much as any
of the [Schoolmaſters | schoolmasters]Schoolmaſtersschoolmasters have who are [imployed | employed]imployedemployed among any of
the Tribes on the Sea Shore, by the [Boſton | Boston]BoſtonBoston [Commiſsioners | commissioners]Commiſsionerscommissioners[org0095.ocp];
and will do for you what Shall be [reaſonable | reasonable]reaſonablereasonable, and will
provide a good Interpreter to go with you in the Spring.

[pleaſe | please]pleaſeplease to let me See you or hear from you as Soon as
[poſsible | possible]poſsiblepossible.
 It is an [aſtoniſhing | astonishing]aſtoniſhingastonishing [gap: tear] of God's Grace [& | and]&and the outpouring
of his Spirit upon this Seminary[org0037.ocp], here you may See the begin-
-ing and budding of the [gap: tear][guess (h-dawnd): New]New [Jeruſalem | Jerusalem]JeruſalemJerusalem. the [firſt | first]firſtfirst appearance
of it was upon our getting into a Settled and quiet State
about a month ago. the affairs of this Seminary[org0037.ocp] never [lookd | looked]lookdlooked
with so joyful and [incouraging | encouraging]incouragingencouraging an [aſpect | aspect]aſpectaspect, before, as they now do
I hope in a little Time you will have opportunity to See [ſcores | scores]ſcoresscores
of your [Tawney | tawny]Tawneytawny Brethren, [nouriſhed | nourished]nouriſhednourished by the [Breaſts | breasts]Breaſtsbreasts of this
Alma Mater. —
 I cant tell [yo | you]yoyou What lo[gap: tear][guess (h-dawnd): a]ads of Sorrow I have been bowed
down under, on [acco.t | account]acco.taccount of the falls [& | and]&and [miſcarriages | miscarriages]miſcarriagesmiscarriages of So many
on whom I had dependance under God as [Inſtruments | instruments]Inſtrumentsinstruments to
help forward the great [Deſign | design]Deſigndesign before me. God has been
my Helper or I Should have Sunk inddeed under the weight
— My dear friend, I have had, [& | and]&and born loads on your [accot | account]accotaccount
I long to know whether God has truly [opend | opened]opendopened your Eyes to
See the wound you have given the [Bleſsed | blessed]Bleſsedblessed Redeemer? and
whether you have [& | and]&and do look upon him whom you have
[peirced | pierced]peircedpierced, [& | and]&and [morn | mourn]mornmourn for what you have done as for an only
Son? and what Revenge you are [exerciſing | exercising]exerciſingexercising upon [& | and]&and towards your
Self in a way of Self denial and [croſs | cross]croſscross bearing? my dear Friend
dont now add to the offence by Setting down [diſcouraged | discouraged]diſcourageddiscouraged and
Say there is no hope of your Future [usefulneſs | usefulness]usefulneſsusefulness. no my Friend
[reſolve | resolve]reſolveresolve on Revenge on your [Luſts | lusts]Luſtslusts, [& | and]&and [eſpecially | especially]eſpeciallyespecially your Pride, and
upon the father [& | and]&and Author of them. My Heart [akes | aches]akesaches for you
enough to [beſmear | besmear]beſmearbesmear this Paper with my Hearts Blood if that were
a proper way to [expreſs | express]expreſsexpress my Sorrow, and a way that would
do you any good — but I conclude with Love to you and
your wife[pers0029.ocp]. and am, for [Chriſts | Christs]ChriſtsChrists Sake

[Closer]
Your much wounded, [& | and]&and Afflicted
 Friend [& | and]&and Servant
Eleazar Wheelock[pers0036.ocp]
Document Summary

People identified in this document:

id Text in document Role in header Authorized Name
pers0030.ocp M. r Mr. Occom recipient Occom, Samson
pers0155.ocp David mentioned Fowler, David
pers0610.ocp M. r Mr. Woodward mentioned Woodward, Bezaleel
pers0029.ocp wife mentioned Occom, Mary (née Fowler)
pers0036.ocp Eleazar Wheelock writer Wheelock, Eleazar

Places identified in this document:

id Text in document Authorized Name
place0095.ocp Hanover Hanover

Organizations identified in this document:

id Text in document Authorized Name
org0078.ocp Onondagas Onondaga Nation
org0095.ocp BoſtonBoston Commiſsionerscommissioners The Company for Propagation of the Gospel in New England and the parts adjacent in America
org0037.ocp this Seminary Dartmouth College
org0037.ocp this Seminary Dartmouth College

Dates identified in this document:

Standard Form Text
1771-01-22 JanyJanuary 22.d22nd 1771

Regularized text:

Type Original Regularized
modernization 22.d 22nd
modernization M.r Mr.
modernization unleſs unless
modernization manifeſtation manifestation
variation every body everybody
modernization usefulneſs usefulness
modernization deſign design
variation compell compel
modernization Miniſtry ministry
variation eaſie easy
modernization wickedneſs wickedness
modernization periſhing perishing
modernization viſion vision
variation mentiond mentioned
variation declind declined
variation feard feared
modernization ſo so
variation imployed employed
modernization underſtood understood
modernization otherwiſe otherwise
modernization muſt must
modernization miſtake mistake
variation beleived believed
modernization Cauſe cause
modernization wilderneſs wilderness
modernization beſt best
modernization Proſpect prospect
modernization Schoolmaſters schoolmasters
modernization Boſton Boston
modernization Commiſsioners commissioners
modernization reaſonable reasonable
modernization pleaſe please
modernization poſsible possible
modernization aſtoniſhing astonishing
modernization Jeruſalem Jerusalem
modernization firſt first
variation lookd looked
variation incouraging encouraging
modernization aſpect aspect
modernization ſcores scores
variation Tawney tawny
modernization nouriſhed nourished
modernization Breaſts breasts
modernization miſcarriages miscarriages
modernization Inſtruments instruments
modernization Deſign design
variation opend opened
modernization Bleſsed blessed
variation peirced pierced
variation morn mourn
modernization exerciſing exercising
modernization croſs cross
modernization diſcouraged discouraged
modernization reſolve resolve
modernization Luſts lusts
modernization eſpecially especially
variation akes aches
modernization beſmear besmear
modernization expreſs express
modernization Chriſts Christs

Expanded abbreviations:

Abbreviation Expansion
Jany January
& and
yt that
yo you
acco.t account
accot account

This document's header does not contain any mixed case attribute values.

Summary of errors found in this document:

Number of dates with invalid 'when' attributes: 0
Number of nested "hi" tags: (consider merging the @rend attributes, or using other tags) 0
Number of tags with invalid 'rend' attributes: 0 (out of 14)
Number of people/places/organizations with unknown keys: 0 (out of 11)
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